<i>Glee's</i> Chris Colfer originally auditioned to play wheelchair-bound Artie

By Patrick Weyland-Smith| 8 years ago

Glee's Chris Colfer won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of gay chic-geek Kurt Hummel on the hit show, but originally Glee had no Kurt at all!

Glee'sChris Colfer won a Golden Globe for his portrayal of gay chic-geek Kurt Hummel on the hit show, but originally Glee had no Kurt at all!

Chris told men's fashion website Mr Porter that he originally auditioned for the part of wheelchair-bound Artie Abrams, now played by Kevin McHale.

"I was auditioning for the part of Artie … and I didn't get it. Obviously," he told Mr Porter.

However creator Ryan Murphy loved Chris so much that he wrote a part specifically for the Californian actor based on Chris' personality and background.

"They invented a character for me," he said. "They created Kurt specifically."

Kurt's characterisation was based on Chris' own high school experience, being constantly bullied at school because of his sexuality.

"I was harassed at school every day, called 'f-----', I had things taped to my back," he said.

Chris' was once denied the opportunity to sing 'Defying Gravity' from the musical Wicked due to it traditionally being sung by a female. His experience was then incorporated into an episode in the first season of Glee. Chris' backstory as well as many of the other actors are often mined for sub-plots in the series.

"There have been a couple of times when I have gone to Ryan Murphy and told him a couple of things that have happened to me, and then he writes it into the show," Chris told PR.com.

"Or he'll ask me what song I would want to sing … I don't think any of us directly try to give input on the character or on the storyline, but they definitely steal things from us."